He Didn't Have To Be
by Californiapoppy5
Summary: A man recollects on the defining moments of his childhood to his adolescence. He remembers the man who changed his and his mothers life forever. As he gets older he never forgets the lessons he's been taught by the influential man who turned "something's missing into a family" even if he didn't have to be.
1. For once i got to go

He Didn't Have To Be.

* * *

_When a single mom goes out on a date with somebody new_  
_It always winds up feeling more like a job interview_  
_My momma used to wonder if she'd ever meet someone_  
_Who wouldn't find out about me and then turn around and run_

_I met the man i call my dad when i was five years old_  
_He took my mom out to a movie_  
_And for once i got to go._

**"He Didn't Have To Be."- Brad Paisley**

* * *

**Present**

Sadly my first memory wasn't the greatest one. I was three and my grandma was getting ready to baby sit me. My mom was twenty years old when she had me. She was a straight A student, she went to church every Sunday, and she didn't go out and party. She fell in love with my biological father. Who's name I didn't even bother to know. They were together for the first two years of college before she got pregnant with me. Long story short, he left and never looked back.

My mom, being the Christian that she was, never thought once about abortion. Though my grandma had to be a single mother after grandpa died tragically when mom was 10. It was always hard for them but they made it together, just like when mom had me. Even if Grandma was disappointed she supported my mom and me. I never doubted once that my life was a mistake. I was a blessing from god… I just came sooner than expected.

Back to my first memory; My mom was beautiful. She had thick, long, dark hair that always fell against her back. She was the spinning image of Grandma and they both were classic beauties. It wasn't surprising that many boys were interested in her. Grandma always said she had a lot of dates, not that many serious boyfriends. She wanted to save herself for her husband then my father came along and she thought she was going to marry him. I hear her Thank God every night for her lapse of judgment because it created me.

I was sitting on the stairs, waiting for my mom to leave of her first date. I had a blue power ranger action figure in my hands. My mom walked down the stairs in a pretty dress. I don't remember why but I didn't want her to go. I clutched on her legs and hugged them tightly until she picked me up.

I remember resting my head against her shoulder, touching the cross resting on her chest. I had a gold chain in my room identical to hers. I knew it had something to do with God but I didn't understand quite yet. She whispered something in my ear I don't really remember now but I remember it making me smile. She probably promised we were going somewhere fun. When she had a date and didn't take me, she'd take me somewhere fun like Chuck-E-Cheese or to the bouncy place.

The doorbell rang and my grandma walked over to us. She attempted to peel me away from my mothers soft touch. I started screaming. I had the tantrum of all tantrums. My grandmother tried to calm me down as my mom fixed herself up. She opened a door to a tall skinny blonde guy. He had a smile on his face and flowers in his hand.

She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and I squirmed out of my grandmothers arms. I ran over to my mom and wrapped myself around her leg. I glared at the boy in the door, sniffling. Mom apologized for my behavior and he gave her a nervous smile. She said something else I couldn't remember; I do remember the color draining out of his face.

My grandma peeled me off of her leg and I started screaming again. My mom walked out the door quickly closing it behind her. Less than five minutes later my mom ran back in, rushing straight up stairs. Grandma called after her but she just kept going. I knew something was wrong so I calmed down. She set me down and walked into the kitchen. I climbed up the stairs due to the gates being open. I found my mommy in our shared room, laying on the bed.

She was crying and I knew, somehow, this was my fault. I crawled on the bed and moved her beautiful hair away from her face. She looked at me, surprised and looked at the door. She sat up quickly, wiping the tears. I remember telling her we didn't have to do anything fun and that I was sorry. She smiled at me, but she wasn't happy. I laid down with her as she wrapped her arms around me. I wanted to make sure she would be happy. I needed to stay out of the way.

She went on many dates. She'd always go out and meet them instead of the boy picking her up. I'd spend my time with Grandma and she'd keep me occupied. I prayed to God that he would send her somebody that made her happy. I wished that she wouldn't come home with sad eyes and a forced smile for me.

God answered my prayer when I was five years old. My mom was working on getting her masters degree in engineering. I was shy just like my mom was when she was little. I was afraid of doing something wrong, of making my mom more sad than she already was. I was also in the 'why' stage.

Why do you have to go out?

Why can't I come?

Why do you have to go to school?

Why do I have to go to day care?

But why? But why? But why?

My mom had all the patience in the world but sometimes, on the wrong day, I'd push her buttons. I was naturally curious. I needed to learn. I loved to read. They knew I was going to be an intellectual. They had the biggest dreams for me. I needed to make them happen one day.

* * *

**November 12, 2003**

I found my five year old self sitting on the stairs again like back when I was just three years old. This time I had three hot wheels instead of a blue Power Ranger. I had a blue Chevy pick up, an orange Corvette and a red Honda. I drove them around the bottom stair.

"Andrew, pick up your cars baby. You don't want mama to fall, do you?" She asked, stopping a couple steps up from me.

I picked them up quickly. "Sorry mama."

"It's alright baby." She took a seat next to me. "Mommy is going out and I'll be back later, okay?" She said, kissing the top of my head.

"Okay." I said quietly. "Will you be home to read to me?"

"I can't promise you anything but I'm sure grandma will be more than happy to read to you." She offered, smoothing down my dark brown hair.

I pouted a little bit. "Grandma doesn't read it like you can."

She frowned a little bit. "I'll try to make it home. Mommy doesn't have school tomorrow so how does the park sound?"

I smiled. "I like the park."

She matched my smile. "I know you do baby. You have to be good for grandma, okay?" I nodded my head and the doorbell rang. "He's not supposed to be here yet." She muttered quietly to herself. The doorbell rang again. "Ma."

"I'm coming Gabriella." Grandma said, coming from the kitchen. "Get the door, don't make him wait."

Mom got up quickly, rushing to the door. She opened it and smiled at the man in front of her. "Hey, Troy."

"Hey Gabi. The movie starts at seven so how about we grab some dinner before we go?" I watched the man speak. He was really tall. He could be a basketball player. He looked really nice. He took a peak in the house and he took a double take at me.

I gulped and hid behind my grandmas leg. "That sounds fine." I heard mom say.

"Is that your little brother?" He asked, glancing at me again.

I peaked out from the side of Grandma's leg. Both mom and grandma froze. "Uh," Mom took a look back at me and I hid behind grandma's leg again. "No, he- He's my son."

I took a deep breath and peaked out again. Troy, the man at the door, smiled at me. "Why didn't you tell me you had a son?"

"It's not exactly something you bring up on a first date." She said, looking down.

"You don't have to leave him here. We should take him with us." Troy suggested and I started coming out from behind the leg I was hiding behind.

Mom looked back at me and bit her lip. "Troy, we don't have to."

"I have no problem bringing the little guy along. I mean, If you don't mind." He said, giving my grandma a smile.

I saw a small smile break out on my mothers face. "I don't mind at all."

Troy grinned, looking down at me. "Hey buddy, come here." I looked around even though I knew he was talking to me. "Come here." He said again. I walked over to him cautiously and he knelt down just before I got in front of him. "What's your name little dude?"

"Andrew." I said quietly. I clutched the three cars in my hand.

"Hi Andrew, I'm Troy. Those are some cool cars you got there." He said, looking down at my hands. "Can I see them?" I nodded quietly, putting the cars in his big hands slowly. "Which one is your favorite?" I pointed to the truck. He grinned. "I have a truck just like that at home."

My face lit up. "Really?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fixing it."

"Why?" I asked. I looked up at my mom and she smiled down at me.

"Because it's really old and I want it to work again. I have to re build the engine." He explained. He handed me my cars back. "Maybe I can show you sometime, would you like that?" I nodded my head. Troy stood back up and I looked back at my grandma. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah." Mom answered. "Andrew, can you give your cars to grandma so we can go?"

"Can I take one Mama?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yes, but don't loose it okay?"

I smiled. "I won't." I ran over to grandma and gave her the corvette and the red car. I put the blue truck in my pocket before running back over to my mom and Troy. "Ready." I slipped my small hand into my moms larger one.

"Let's go." Troy said, holding out his hand for my other one.

I put my hand in his and we walked to the my moms car. Troy helped me in my car seat buckling me in. "Thank you." I said quietly. He ruffled my hair and closed the door, getting in the passengers seat.

Mom and Troy talked quietly in the front seat while I pulled the truck out of my pocket. I drove it along my lap quietly. I reached over and found another toy that was sitting on the seat. I heard them say my name so I looked up at the front seat, listening in.

"Why didn't you tell me about him then?" Troy asked quietly.

Mom sighed. "I haven't had the best of luck with guys after I tell them I have a kid. It's hard to find somebody that will accept him and he is more important to me than anything." She said, glancing back at me.

"I'm sorry. Those guys are jerks and they're missing out on a great girl and a great kid too." He said, reaching over to hold her hand. She smiled and accepted. "He's really quiet, you kind of forget that he's here." Troy looked back at me and I looked down at my toys.

"He's really, really shy. I'm surprised he actually let you put him in and hold his hand. He's very cautious around new people, kind of like me." My mom explained to him. "I think he likes you. I mean, you're the first guy that I've dated that he's met."

"Really?" Troy raised his eyebrow. "I wish you would have told me sooner. We could have done all kinds of stuff with him instead of having him sit at home."

"Mommy." I said, catching their attention.

"Yeah baby?"

"Are we still going to the park tomorrow?" I asked, shyly as Troy looked back at me.

She looked at me in the rear view before looking back at the road. "We'll have to see Andrew."

I sighed and turned back to my toys. "So Andrew, have you started kindergarten yet?" Troy asked me, I looked up at him, nodding my head slowly. "How do you like it?"

"It's fun, Ms. Janice is really nice." I said, looking up at him. "Do you go to school like mommy?"

He nodded. "I do, that's how I met your mommy actually."

"Oh." I said, sitting up a little bit straighter. "You must be really smart because mommy is really smart."

Troy grinned at me. "Your mommy is way smarter than me."

The car stopped and I looked out the window to see where we were. I unbuckled myself and mommy opened the door for me. I climbed out of the car, holding her hand automatically. Troy opened the door for us to the restaurant and we walked in. I sat in between mom and Troy in a booth. I colored quietly with my crayons.

"Andrew, what do you want to eat?" Mom asked me, flipping over the menu really quickly. I pointed to the Mac and Cheese. "What do you want to drink?"

"Water." I said, flipping the page over.

"He is definitely your son." Troy said chuckling. I looked up at him, curiously.

"I know." Mom said, with a proud smile.

"He is the most well-behaved and polite five year old I've ever met." Troy said, looking over at me.

"Say thank you Andrew."

"Thank you." I said, quietly, coloring with both of my hands.

"Look at that. He's ambidextrous. You should put him in baseball, he could be a switch hitter." Troy said, looking over at me.

My mom sighed, smoothing back my hair. "I should put him in something but I don't want him to freak out because he's so shy. I haven't really asked him if he wanted to play sports or anything."

"You should, maybe that will open him up a little bit. When my dad put me in basketball when I was younger than him it made me outgoing really quick." Troy said.

Dad? What is that? I wanted to ask but I didn't want to interrupt. My mom smiled at him. I looked up at him as well. I was right. He was a basketball player. "Troy." I said, quietly, interrupting their little moment.

"Yeah, buddy?" He asked, looking at me.

"You play basketball?" I asked him.

He smiled at me. "Yeah, I played since I was littler than you. I still play, maybe you and your mom could come to one of my games?"

We both looked over at my mom. "Oh, I don't know Troy." She said biting her lip. "It'll depend on what nights they are, how long… would I have time to feed him and get him ready?"

"I'll let you know when our first game is." Troy said. "You can relax, you know?"

My mom laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to bringing my son on dates with me."

I looked down at my page again. "Hopefully we can do it more often?"

She smiled down at me. "I'd really like that."

"Me too."

"Troy?" I asked, softly. "How do you spell your name?"

"T-r-o-y." He spelled slowly. I wrote out his name in green crayon with my left hand.

"That's easy." I said, grinning up at him. "Mommy's name is hard. G-a-b-r-i-e-l-l-a" I spelled it aloud as I wrote it under Troy's.

"Can you spell your name?" He asked, watching me.

"A-n-d-r-e-w" I said, writing it with my right hand. I set my crayons back on the table. I picked up the menu and handed it to Troy. "I want you to have this."

He grinned at me. "Thanks buddy, I'll hang it on my refrigerator."

I smiled proudly over at my mommy and she kissed the top of my head. We ate dinner and went to go see a movie. We saw Finding Nemo in theaters. We went back home and Troy came inside to meet Grandma. Grandma really liked him.

I was curled up in between Mom and Troy. I was getting sleepy but I wanted to stay up with them. "Andrew, let me put you in bed sweetheart." Grandma said as she walked over to us.

"No, I don't want to go to bed yet." I said, sinking in further between my mom and Troy.

"We can put him to bed mom." My mom said, looking up at grandma. I smiled widely at my mom. I curled up next to her.

"Alright, just don't let him stay up to late." She said, walking over towards us still. "It's nice to meet you Troy."

"Nice to meet you too Maria." He gave her a bright smile and a kiss on the cheek. Grandma walked up the stairs. I leaned over, resting my head on Troy. I felt two arms pick me up, setting me on Troy's lap. He scooted over and put his arm around mom.

"Smooth." She teased with a giggle.

Troy just smiled, leaning his head against hers that rested on his shoulder. I leaned my head against Troy's chest, letting out a quiet yawn. I was fighting sleep until I closed my eyes. I heard mom and Troy softly talking to each other as I faded in and out of sleep. Troy shifted and I woke up again.

"Is he asleep?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Troy replied. They spoke in quiet voices trying not to wake me. "I had a great time Gabi."

"You don't think of me any differently now that you know I have a child?" Mom asked. I opened my eyes.

"Not at all. You're still the same, beautiful woman I saw when I first laid eyes on you at the beginning of the semester." He said softly.

My mom smiled. "I'm glad you transferred over into the engineering program."

"Me too." There faces weren't that far apart now. Mom touched his cheek and kissed Troy on the lips. I was a little concerned at first. When she pulled away and she had the happiest smile I've seen in a long time, I wouldn't interrupt. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Mom nodded, smiling. She leaned in to kiss him again and I closed my eyes, adjusting myself against Troy's chest. I silently thanked god for bringing us Troy. He made my mom really happy and I don't ever want to lose him because of it.

* * *

**November** **13, 2003**

Troy went to the park with us the next day. He bought me a small baseball glove and a bucket full of baseballs. He was determined to make me Rookie of the Year, whatever that meant. He taught me how to play catch and then we went home for lunch and watched baseball on ESPN. It was nice to have another boy around. Mom didn't really like sports. She would play with me on the playground but I don't think she could teach me how to play baseball.

* * *

**December 14, 2003**

A couple weeks later I was at school, mommy was supposed to pick me up and take me to day care. School had got out a long time ago and mostly everybody went home except for a couple of kids who were waiting too. Ms. Janis was sitting by me and we were talking about what we were learning today but her phone rang.

When Ms. Janis hung up, she looked over at me. "That was your mom, she said Troy is coming to pick you up."

My face lit up. "Really?"

"Who is Troy, Andrew?" She asked, with a smile.

"Troy is mommy's boyfriend. He's really cool. He has a blue truck like my hot wheels and he taught me how to play baseball and he's going to teach me how to play basketball too." I said, grinning. "He's plays basketball at his school that he and mommy go to. Mommy says he's really good at basketball and he got a collarship."

Ms. Janis laughed. "Wow. Troy seems really great. I can't wait to meet him."

"Hey Buddy." I sat up quickly and ran over to him. He picked me up in a tight hug and walked over to Ms. Janis. "You must be Mrs. Cline I'm Troy Bolton, Gabi's boyfriend."

"You can call me Ms. Janis. I just got off the phone with Gabi. Andrew seems to know you but just because it's protocol I have to see your ID please." Ms. Janis said.

"Right. No problem." Troy set me down and I held on to his pant leg as he pulled his wallet from his pocket, showing Ms. Janis his card.

"Can I see?" I asked, looking up at him. He handed it down to me and I saw his picture. I laughed. "You look silly with long hair."

He took back his card, chuckling. "I look much better now, right buddy?"

"Right." I said confidently.

"It was nice meeting you Troy." Ms. Janis shook his hand.

"You too Ms. Janis."

"Bye Ms. Janis." I called out.

"Bye Andrew."

Troy picked me up again and we walked to his car. "Where's mommy?" I asked him curiously.

"Mommy's class ran late so she couldn't get out on time." Troy explained.

"Do I have to go to day care?" I asked, looking over at him.

He shook his head. "Nope, we're spending the next couple hours together, just you and me buddy."

I smiled at him. "Really? Can we go get ice cream?"

"I was thinking we get a snack first. Do you like pizza?"

"Yeah!" I said excitedly.

He smiled. "Good, because I know this really cool place where we can go." He put me in the booster seat he had in the back of his car. He got in and we drove over to the pizza place.

Troy took me out and we walked inside. We got a pizza to share and we talked about everything I learned in school today. He said we were going to go to his basketball game tomorrow. When we were finished with our pizza we walked around the corner to a big arcade. It was the coolest thing I've ever seen. We got a bunch of tokens and we played a whole bunch of games together. I took a nap on the way home but when I woke up I was so excited to tell mommy how my day went. She was a little hurt when I said I wanted Troy to pick me up everyday but she was happy we were bonding.

* * *

**Five shot/ song fic/ whatever the hell you want to call it. I'll post ANOTHER new story later, so look out for that one. My externship is going pretty good. A big thanks to all of you who wished me good luck. I seriously love you guys. Don't forget to review!**


	2. Prayed that she said yes

_A few months later_  
_I remember lying there in bed_  
_I overheard him pop the question_  
_And I prayed that she'd say yes_

_And then all of a sudden_  
_Oh, it seemed so strange to me_  
_How we went from something's missing to a family._

**"He Didn't Have To Be"- Brad Paisley  
**

* * *

**Present**

For my sixth birthday I remember going to the same pizza place that Troy took me just six months prior. I was born on May 31, 1998. I was six days late and my mom was in labor for 24 hours. I was a very stubborn baby apparently. But the fact that it was my birthday didn't make the day extra special. The fact that we went to one of my favorite place wasn't life changing. It was the night and it was the biggest gift anybody could have ever gotten a boy like me.

* * *

**May 31, 2004**

We had just gotten home from the pizza place. Home, instead of being my Grandma's house, was now a small one story three bedroom house just down the street where me, my mom, and now Troy, lived together. Mom and Troy put me in bed, I was pretty tired but something willed me to stay up. It was like I knew something was going to happen.

Though my lights were off, I had a small baseball shaped night light illuminating my blue room. I crawled out of my bed and crept towards the cracked door. I was still getting used to sleeping in a room by myself. I opened it quietly walking down the hall. I could hear them talking. I slid down against the wall and leaned over so I could hear a little bit more.

"Did you think he had fun today?" Mom asked.

"I think he had a great time. He loved it when I took him there after school that day." Troy said.

"He wouldn't stop talking about it after a month. He really loves you Troy. You've had such a great impact on him. I'm really starting to think of you as a father figure." Mom had said.

It was quiet for a moment and I peaked over the couch was facing forward and they would have to turn their heads completely to the right to see me. I saw Troy playing with something in his hand and hid back behind the wall.

"I was really thinking about that Gabi."

"About what?"

"Being a good role model for Andrew." Troy started. "I am completely in love with you and him. I think of him as my own and I'd do anything in this world for him. I want to be a father to him and the future children we have and I want to be a husband to you. You make me so happy. I don't want anything more than to come home to you and Andy every day. I know it's a big step but I want to be a proper family for you and our son. Gabriella Andrea Montez, Will you marry me?"

I peaked over quickly. He was on the floor. I sat back and shut my eyes really tight. "Please god, please let her say yes." I whispered as quietly as I could so they couldn't hear me.

"Yes, of course." My mom said in a shaky voice.

A smile took over my face as I peaked over to see him put a ring on her finger. They kissed and I grinned. "Yes." I said a little too loudly.

"Did you hear that?" Mom said.

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard Andrew." My eyes widened and I got up quietly. "I'm going to go check up on him."

I ran toward my room silently and crawled back into bed and put the covers on me and pretended like I was asleep. "See baby, he's sleeping. We'll tell him in the morning." Troy said.

"Speaking of babies… You want to have more kids?" Mom asked.

"As many as you'd like." Troy said.

* * *

Present

Like any kid, I had a memory lapse. When I think back at it now. I vaguely remember elementary school and my old friends. I don't really remember my first baseball game or my first hit off a tee or hitting machine. I don't remember catching my first fly ball or properly fielding a grounder. I do remember the first and the last time I've ever got suspended from school.

Mom and Troy got married three months after my sixth birthday. He adopted me and he is the first and only dad I've ever had. The first time I called him dad the smile on his face and the tear in my mothers eye was unforgettable. Since then he was Dad. It was like everything was complete now. I had two parents to love and take care of me. It really built my self-esteem back up. I was more outgoing, making more friends and unfortunately enemies.

We had just gotten back from winter break. I was in the second grade and I was the happiest I'd ever remember. I made two good friends, Colton and Brandon. I was getting used to my last name being changed from 'Montez' to 'Bolton.' Andrew Raymond Bolton. I proudly wore my dads last name.

Some of the kids I was in first grade with didn't take well to the changes in my name and in me. They were used to me off in a corner, reading a book. Only speaking when I got called on. I was a whole different person, my little personality started to shine and for bullies couldn't stand that.

* * *

January 9, 2006

Colton, Brandon and I were out in the grass playing 'imaginary' baseball. We couldn't have bats or hard balls at school so we pretended. I was rounding third when I ran into the class bully and the biggest kid in the second grade: Gary Roberts.

"Watch where you're going weenie." Gary shoved me to the ground. I tried to get up again but he shoved me back down. "I said, watch where you're going weenie."

"Gary, stop." I said, sighing from the ground. I had a new grass stain on my jeans, my mom was not going to be happy.

"What? You think that your mommy got married you can just run into people." He asked, glaring down at me.

"N-" I started.

"You're just a bastard and just because you have some new losers last name doesn't mean anything. I rule this play ground. I rule the second grade." He pushed his pudgy finger in his chest.

"Don't talk about my dad like that." I said getting up. I didn't let him push me back down.

"He's not even your dad! He's just your mom's husband. He doesn't care about you." He snorted. "Bolton… sounds like a sissy name."

"You better stop Gary. Stop talking about my dad." I said, balling up my fist.

"Bolton's a sissy." He taunted. "Bolton's a sissy."

"I'm warning you Roberts." I said, puffing out my chest.

"Bolton's a sissy, Bolton's a sissy." He taunted more. "Wah, wah, wah."

I pulled my elbow back and like a spring load, it shot forward. My fist collided with his eye and before I knew it I was on top of him, punching his lights out. Nobody talked about my family like that. Nobody.

"Andrew Bolton! Get off him right now!" I heard a whistle blow but I didn't stop. The yard duty ran over, peeling me off of Gary Roberts. "You are going straight to the principals office."

I was still seeing red. I didn't know how I got to the office but I remember sitting in the chair, looking at my swollen knuckles. "Mr. Bolton, we have a zero tolerance for fighting, do you know what that means?" The principal, Mrs. Smith, said as she took a seat behind her desk. "I've called your parents and your father is on his way over here now."

I let out a sigh. "Mrs. Smith, here's Andrew's stuff." A small voice said coming from the door. It was a girl in my class, Emily Gellar. She walked over and handed it to me.

"Thank you Emily." I said, taking my back pack.

"Thank you Emily, head back to class sweetheart." Mrs. Smith repeated after me with a soft smile. I've never really talked to Mrs. Smith but I've heard she was really nice. She probably wouldn't like me, because I was a 'trouble maker.' My dad was going to kill me. "We are going to wait until the nurse finishes up with Gary and his parent comes, we are going to have a talk with you and your father, okay?"

I nodded silently. "Yes, Mrs. Smith."

"You seem like a fine young man, why did you hit him?" She asked, softly.

I gulped. "He was making fun of me."

She frowned and nodded. "I'll be right back dear, get started on your homework."

"Yes, Mrs. Smith." I said again. I pulled out my homework folder out of my back pack. There were three sticky notes on three packets. I pulled out the first one and a pencil from my case. I wrote my name neatly on the name line and started it.

I was finishing the second page of my five page packet when Mrs. Smith came back in with Gary, his dad and my dad. My dad looked mad at me and I felt really bad for disappointing him. I put my homework away and put the folder inside my back pack.

Dad pulled up a seat next to me. "Are you alright?" He asked me, looking me over.

"My hands kind of hurt, but other than that, I'm fine." I said quietly to him. He nodded stiffly and we looked over to the principal.

"We are going to have a little talk. East Elementary has a Zero Violence policy. No fighting, no bullying, nothing. We do have rare occasions like this one. We are going to nip this problem in the bud. So Gary, I'm going to let you tell the story first." Mrs. Smith said.

He had an ice pack on his eye, his lip was a little busted but other than that he didn't look that bad. "Well I was playing at recess when Andrew and I accidentally bumped into each other. He got knocked on the ground and I told him to watch where he was going. He said something then I said something and before I knew it he was beating me up." He said, sniffling for effect.

I narrowed my eyes at the desk I was staring at. Man I hated that kid. "Alright, Andrew."

"I was playing imaginary baseball with my friends. I was about to score from the homerun that I hit when I did accidentally run into Gary. He pushed me to the ground and when I tried to get up he pushed me again. He started talking about me. He called me a weenie."

"So you hit him." Dad exasperated.

"Mr. Bolton, please." Mrs. Smith said, "continue please, Andrew."

"When he wouldn't let me get up, he started saying stuff about my mom. I told him to stop. Then he started talking about my dad. He said I was a bastard and that my dad didn't love me. He said that Bolton was a sissy name. He kept repeating it and repeating it. I got mad and I hit him and I couldn't stop. I'm sorry that I hit him Mrs. Smith, but Nobody talks bad about my family." I said firmly, looking her straight in the eye.

She looked a little surprised. She looked over to Gary. I looked over too and he was looking at his father. His father was glaring down at him. "Is this true, Mr. Roberts?"

He looked up at Mrs. Smith shyly. "Kind of."

"Tell the truth, boy."

Gary sighed, "Yes, it's true."

She frowned again. "I'm sorry Mr. Roberts, you are going to be suspended for three days along with Mr. Bolton. We have a zero bullying policy. You both need to write each other a written apology. I will read them and give them back on Monday when you get back." Mrs. Smith stated. "Agreed?"

"Yes Ma'am." I said, looking over at her.

"Do you have any questions?" He asked the parents behind me and the boy next to me.

"No thank you, Mrs. Smith. I'm sorry about all of this." Mr. Roberts said.

I saw dad nod out of the corner of my eye. "I'm sorry too and I'm sorry about your son..." Dad said, looking over at Mr. Roberts.

"Gary." Mr. Roberts finished for him.

"Troy." Dad shook his hand. "Have a nice day, Mrs. Smith."

"You too." She called back.

I picked up my backpack and slid my arms in the straps. "I'm sorry Mrs. Smith." I said, standing in the doorway.

"I know, sweetheart. I know." She said, nodding at me.

I followed my dad out the door back over to his car. I kept my head down, looking at my shoes. He just unlocked the door and I got in. I sat quietly in the back, buckling my seatbelt. He started driving towards home and I stared out the window. We didn't talk.

Dad pulled up to the house and got out. I got out of the car and grabbed my backpack quickly. I closed the door and walked inside. Dad went off into the kitchen and I sat at the dining room table. I pulled out my homework. I started on my third page and dad came out with two sandwiches.

He sat next to me and slid one over to me. "Son, we have to talk. We can eat and talk at the same time. I know you're hungry, we left right before lunch."

I picked up my sandwich and took a bite. "Thank you for the sandwich."

"You're welcome buddy." He said, wiping his mouth. We took in another couple moments of silence before he spoke again. "I love you and your mom more than anything. You both mean the world to me. I am so proud of you, son, because you are smart, usually responsible, and you're a nice kid. Even though this probably will happen again one day, I want you to ignore the bullies okay?"

"It's hard." I said, setting my sandwich down.

"I know it's hard. I know it makes you mad, talking bad about people you love. Sometimes you have to take the high road. Bullies don't know you outside of school. They don't have hidden cameras in the house. They don't know what it's like for you at home. You don't need to listen to them tell you things that aren't true. Andrew, you know I love you, right?" He asked me.

"I know." I said, peeling off a piece before sticking it in my mouth.

He nodded. "Don't let them get to you. You are a much better boy than they will ever be. I am very proud to have you as my son. The fact that you will willingly fight for our name fills me with pride you can't imagine. You can't get into fights though, buddy."

"I know dad, I'm sorry for disappointing you." I said, taking a bite.

He chewed thoughtfully before he responded. "I am disappointed that you got suspended from school." I looked down at the table finishing my sandwich. "Your mom is going to be mad."

"I know." I said getting up. "Can I do the rest of my homework later, dad? I think I need time alone."

"Sure, buddy." Dad said getting up as well. "Can I have a hug first?"

I nodded quietly, hugging my father tightly. He kissed the top of my head and let me go on my way. I walked to my bedroom and laid on my bed. I looked around my room and decided to clean it up. I've been putting it off for a couple of days. Maybe mom wouldn't get too mad at me if I cleaned my room. I put everything in it's place, stacking my toys neatly in the chest at the edge of my bed. I put all my dirty socks in the basket in the closet. I made sure all the clothes in my drawer were folded properly.

I heard the front door close and I knew mom was home. I picked up the trash from the little trash bin by my bed and took it out to the kitchen. I dumped it in the bigger trash can and froze when I heard my moms voice.

"So tell me what the hell that call was about Troy? I couldn't get out of work." Mom said.

"I picked him up, he's here. He got suspended." Dad said.

"He got WHAT?" Mom said loudly. I leaned against the kitchen wall. "Why?"

Dad took a deep breath. "He got into a fight with another little boy."

"What could two seven year olds possibly fight about?" She asked him.

Dad cleared his throat. "They were playing at recess and they ran into each other. Some words were exchanged and Andrew threw the first and only punches."

"PunchES?" Mom asked, shocked. "Is the little boy okay?"

"He had an ice pack on his face and his bloody lip was cleaned up when I walked into the office."

My mom sighed. "I'm going to have a talk with him. He is going to be grounded until his _fucking_ birthday."

My eyes widened. My mom never said any bad words. She must be really, really mad. I frowned to myself, hugging the small bin from my room. What if they didn't want me anymore? I was just going to be a bad kid that neither of them wanted. I slid down the wall and frowned. I felt the tears well up in my eyes but willed myself not to let them fall.

"Gabriella, do not be mad at him. He's already broken up about what we think of him. He's sensitive and if you blow up at him he's going to crawl right back into his shell of insecurity. He asked me for alone time, he went into his room and has been cleaning for the past two hours. He wants to be perfect, he's a perfectionist. He gets that from you, Gabi."

"But why would he hit somebody?" Mom asked.

"Gary Roberts, the other kid, is a bully. He pushed him down. He was talking bad about you and about me. The kid said he was a _bastard _for Christ sake. He said that I didn't love him. He was taunting our son, Gabriella. Do you really not expect him to get mad?" Dad said. "I agree he shouldn't have hit the boy but he wouldn't leave Andrew alone."

I heard my mom sigh. I got up and walked back to my room. I put the bin next to my bed. I ripped my bed apart, pulling off the comforter and sheets. I picked up the dirty bedding and walked past my parents who were still talking and walked into the garage. I dropped the pile in front of the washer. I got up and walked back to my room without a word to either of them.

I pulled clean sheets from the closet and brought them over to my room. I put the fitted sheet on one corner before starting it on the other side. The edge that I put on came off so I sighed loudly, starting over again. "Hey baby." Mom said softly. "Thank you for finally cleaning your room."

"Hi." I said quietly, trying to focus on putting these stupid sheets on my stupid bed.

"Do you need help?" She asked, walking beside me.

"No!" I said sharply as she tried to help. "I'll do it."

Mom sighed and I finally got the four corners covered. I walked out of the room to get the top sheet. Mom pulled away from the bed quickly. I could tell she was fixing it. "Fine. You do it." I threw the sheet on the ground and walked out of the living room.

I sat next to Dad who was watching some sports channel on the TV. I huffed, crossing my arms. "What's up, buddy?"

"I'm mad."

"At what?" He asked, concerned.

"Everything." I said, looking forward.

"Hang on, okay?" He said getting up.

"Fine." I waited for dad to get back. He brought me my shoes and handed them to me.

"Come on, we're going to have some man time." Dad said, waiting for me to put my shoes on.

I tied my shoes on and we walked out to his car. He drove around a little bit before he stopped a grandma Lucy and Grandpa Jacks house. I looked over at him, confused. "I thought they went to Texas." I said.

"They did. Come on." Dad said, getting out of the car. I followed him out, walking behind him as he opened the door to my grandparents house. We walked through, straight to the back yard. Dad picked up two basketballs and handed one over to me.

"What are we doing, dad?" I asked, looking over at him.

"You said you were mad. This is what I do when I'm mad." Dad said, dribbling once before shooting the basketball into the hoop perfectly. "Grandpa Jack wanted me to play basketball forever. He pushed me to be the best basketball player I could be. When Life was getting rough and he was tough on me, I'd shoot baskets until I feel better. Do you want to try?"

I nodded quietly. Dad showed me how to shoot the ball into this very basket. I dribbled the ball carefully and pushed the ball up and it bounced off the rim, causing me to run across the yard to go get it. I sighed when I caught back up to my dad. "What happened if you missed?"

"You keep trying buddy. Don't quit. Do you want to be a quitter for the rest of your life?" He asked me.

My eyes grew and I shook my head. "No!" I said worriedly.

"You give everything little thing your best and you will be successful at whatever you do, son." He said. "Try again."

I nodded my head and bounced the basketball. I took a deep breath and shot the ball up again. I missed. I ran after my ball and picked it up. I dribbled over and took another shot, making it in the basket this time. I felt myself start to relax as I kept sinking the shots.

"It's going to get easier as you grow up. You'll grow into a man and you'll sink shots effortlessly. You might not be the tallest man, but if you learn to play and love the game, you will be an excellent athlete." Dad said, taking at seat at the end of the court. "Keep going son."

He watched me shoot baskets into the hoop. I missed some and I sank some. I kept going until I was too tired and too hungry to feel mad anymore. I walked over to my dad and took a seat next to him. "Dad?" I asked him.

"Yeah, son?"

"What am I going to do for three days?"

"Well, Your grandparents will be back tomorrow night. I think you'll stay with Grandma Maria tomorrow and Thursday and Friday, you're going to stay with Grandpa Jack." He said, patting my back.

"I'm sorry for making you miss work today." I looked up at him.

He sighed. "I know you are bud but I'll always be here if you need me. Come talk to me if you're mad. We can go shoot some hoops or hit some baseballs together, okay?"

I nodded my head. "I have to talk to mom, don't I?"

"I'm afraid you do. Just explain to her what happened. I'm sure she'll understand." He said, nodding at me. "Do you understand why fighting is wrong?"

I nodded again. "It doesn't really solve anything. It just hurts more people. I don't know what to do if somebody is mean again."

"You talk to the yard duty, or the teacher, or even me. We will deal with it. I know you don't want to be a tattle tale but if it's really hurting your feelings and it's making you want to hit them again, you need to tell somebody."

I stood up. "Okay, Dad. Let's go home."

"Alright, help your old man up." He stretched his arms out for me. I used all my strength to pull him up. I laughed when he stood up and I fell back down. Dad chuckled, pulling me back up.

* * *

**Tell me if you love it, tell me if you hate it. Don't forget to review!**


	3. All the things

_"Looking back, all i can say_  
_About all the things he did for me_  
_Is I hope i'm at least half the dad_  
_He didn't have to be"_

**"He didn't have to be"- Brad Paisley**

* * *

**Present**

It seemed like most big events were happened every year on my birthday. The day of my eighth birthday my parents told me I was going to have a little sister. I was very surprised. I didn't know how to be a brother. I didn't know how to share my parents. The whole process was going to be so new to everybody. I didn't have to share my room though.

Since I was naturally curious, I was surprised I hadn't even noticed my moms baby bump until that day. It wasn't very big so I didn't see how she fit a baby in there. I thought babies were so much bigger. I didn't really understand the concept of pregnancy and child birth. All I knew was that I was going to be a big brother.

My parents were preparing me for the day that my little sister was going to arrive. I spent a lot of one on one time with my dad. We formed a stronger bond that hasn't broken even to this day. We played basketball, we went on errands for my mom. She always ate the strangest things. I got used to it after a couple of weeks but she didn't let me out potato chips on everything like she did.

I could tell my mom was a little jealous of our bond. So she would do things with me, especially since it was summer time and I was out of school. She started maternity leave at work when she was thirty weeks. I had a month until school started. My little sister was expected to arrive in October sometime.

My mom and I would do lots of art projects at home. She'd drive me to baseball practice; I was playing fall tournament baseball. She'd let me talk to her about whatever I wanted to talk about. She always wanted me to read to her and my sister.

Though she was my mom and I loved her, I felt more connected to my dad somehow. Maybe it was because he was a boy. Maybe it was because he was the person I looked up to most. Maybe it was because he was teaching me about life, helping me become the man I wanted to be. I'm still not completely sure, but I do know that we are still as close as we were, now.

October 7, 2006

Mom and I were at home for the weekend. I was helping take care of my mom since she was due in a week. She was really tired and really grumpy. Dad was pulling in some over time so that when the baby came, he could stay home for a little while. I was already used to the idea of having a little sister. I helped my dad with the babies room and I promised to help out when I could.

Mama wasn't feeling too well today. She was laying in bed and I was getting her whatever she wanted. I brought her a glass of water and set it on the table. "Andrew honey." Mom said, just as I was about to sit down and relax with her.

"Yeah?"

"Can you call your dad for me? I really need to talk to him." She said calmly.

"Are you okay mom?" I asked her, concerned.

"I think your sister is coming a little early." She said softly.

"I'll go get the phone." I rushed out of the room grabbing the phone in the hallway. I pressed in my dads cell number and walked back over to my parents room.

"Hello?" Dad answered.

"Hi Dad." I said, climbing up on the bed again.

"Hey buddy, I'm working, I cant really talk." He said.

"Wait! Mommy thinks she's having the baby." I said quickly.

"What? Let me talk to your mother." He said.

I handed my phone over to my mom and she was holding onto her tummy. "Hello?… yeah…. Yes Troy…. No, it's not… Because they feel different…. If you are going to be dumb then I will just call my mother and you won't see your daughter being born." She threatened. I looked at her, amused. "Okay…Well it fucking hurts…. Okay…. Here he is." Mom took a deep breath and handed me back the phone.

"Hello?" I asked confused.

"Hey bud. Do you remember what we talked about when we talked about your sister coming?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I'd have to go to grandma's for a couple days." I said, recollecting.

"I'm going to need you to do a big favor for me, okay? I need you to call Grandma Maria. You need to tell her to get here as quick as she can because the baby is coming. You're going to help carry mommy's stuff to the car. Don't forget your stuff either. You're going to go with them and you have to make sure mommy stays calm until I get there, okay?" He explained.

"I can do that." I said.

Dad let out his breath. "Good. Me, mommy and your sister are really counting on you right now."

"I won't let you guys down." I said, confidently.

"Good, I love you, tell mommy I love her and call grandma right away."

"We love you too Dad, bye." I hung up and immediately dialed Grandma's number.

We had a brief conversation before she said she was coming over and hung up on me. I put the phone back on the hook and walked over to my mom. She was leaning over, rubbing her back. I picked up her bag, went to my room and picked my up before placing them by the door. I ran back over to my moms room.

"Mom?" I asked her quietly.

"Yes, Andrew." She asked, taking deep breaths.

"Are you okay, mom?" I asked her. She got up again, taking a deep breath. She was about to say something when her face changed. I saw a wet patch form in her jeans. "I'm sorry." I quickly apologized.

She laughed a little. "Honey, it's not your fault, my water broke."

My eyebrows rose. "There's water in there?"

"Yes, I'm going to take a shower, let grandma in If she comes while I'm still in the shower." She instructed me, waddling over to the bathroom.

"Okay." I said, making a face at her. "Thank god, I am not a woman." I mumbled, walking out to the living room. I sat on the couch and watched TV quietly. The shower turned off and the doorbell rang at the same time. "Who is it?" I called out.

"Grandma."

I opened the door and Grandma walked in. She gave me a big hug and set me down. Mom came out with her hair braded and a new set of clothes on. Grandma and mom checked if we had everything. We brought the bags out to the car. We took mom to the hospital and had to wait in the waiting room.

Grandma and I finally got to go in. Mom say saying something about centimeters and I took a seat on the chair. I didn't find this exciting. Mom and dad had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days then bring home a screaming baby. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I was going to love my sister but I didn't know what the big fuss was about.

I played games on moms phone until Dad walked into the room. I walked over to Grandma. "I'm hungry." I said, looking up at her.

"We should go get you some food." She said, smoothing down my shaggy hair. "Go say bye to your parents."

I nodded and walked over to my mom. I climbed up on the rolling chair next to the bed. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "I love you mom, I'll see you tomorrow." I said.

Tears welled up in her eyes, she smothered me with kisses. "I love you Andrew. You will always be my baby boy. I'll miss you so much."

I gave her a kiss on the cheek and she finally let me go. I climbed off the chair and gave my dad a hug. He knelt down to my level. "Don't worry about your mom, bud. Her emotions are all over the place. She'll be back to her normal self in a couple of weeks." He assured, rubbing my arms.

"Are we still going to have time to hang out when the baby comes?" I asked him. That question has been eating away at me for a couple of weeks.

"Of course." He said frowning. "Things are going to be pretty tough for a little while with a new baby in the house. Once we get into a routine, then we'll start doing things again. We have to be patient, okay?"

I nodded my head. "I love you Dad." I hugged my arms around him.

"I love you too, bud. I'll call you and let you know when she's here okay?" I nodded my head. "Be good."

"I will." I said, watching him get up. "Bye." I called out to both of them, walking over to Grandma.

* * *

**October 8, 2006**

"She's here!" Grandma said, waking me up. "Come on, get up. We're going to see your new sister."

I groaned and rolled over. "Later."

"Andrew Raymond." She scolded me.

I sighed. "Fine." I got up. I got ready for my day. I followed grandma to the car and we stopped for donuts. That lifted my mood a little bit. We got to the hospital and we walked in to moms room with our box of donuts. I took a seat in the corner, eating my second donut while grandma went ballistic over my little sister.

Dad came over and took a seat next to me. He grabbed a donut and had a coffee in his hand. "Do you want to go meet your sister?"

I shrugged. "Maybe after my donut." I said taking another small bite.

"She's really small."

"I know, Grandma wouldn't stop talking about it on the car ride over here."

"Do you want to know her name?" He asked me.

"I guess, I have to call her something other than baby." I said, looking over at my dad.

He chuckled quietly. "Her name is Mackenzie."

"Mackenzie?"

"Mackenzie Marie Bolton." He said. I chewed the last piece of my donut. "Are you ready to meet her?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"We have to wash your hands first though bud." We got up when dad finished off his donut and we washed our hands in the sink. Grandma was putting her back in the plastic tub looking thing she slept in.

"Andrew, aren't you going to say hi to mommy?" Mom asked from her bed.

"You were a busy." I mumbled, shrugging.

She frowned a little bit. "Come here." I walked over to my mom and sat up on the bed with her. "I missed you baby, are you excited to see your sister?" I just shrugged. "Well she's excited to meet you." I sat at the end of the bed and Dad but the tiny baby in my arms. She was cute, I admitted that. She looked more like dad than she did mom. She'd probably have his blue eyes. "Andrew, come over here, let me help you."

I looked up at my mom. "I'm fine mom." I said, looking back down at the baby. "Hi Mackenzie. I'm your brother. We are going to have a long talk later." I promised the baby in my arms. She stirred a little bit. She raised her arms, stretching out her little body. She whimpered slightly, opening her eyes. I smiled down at her.

She looked up at me, her eyes half open. I touched her little hand and she gripped onto my finger. "She has a death grip, doesn't she son?"

"Yeah, she does." I said, giving him a small smile. I gave her a small kiss on the cheek before handing her over to my dad. I got off the bed and sat where I was sitting before.

Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Jack came to pick me up. I was staying with them until mom and dad came back from the hospital. I said bye to them and my sister before I went back to grandma and grandpas. They asked me mostly about my sister on the way home. They hadn't gotten a chance to spend quality time with her yet.

* * *

**October 10, 2006**

We were watching a movie for the last part of class. I wasn't sure who was picking me up today. The bell rang and I packed up my stuff, making sure I had everything I needed for my homework. I cleaned up around my desk and put my chair up. I put my backpack out and walked out of class.

I walked to the front of the school to wait for whoever was coming to get me. I looked around to see if I saw anybody familiar. A small smile broke out on my face when I saw my mom leaning against my dad who was holding my sister, wrapped up in a pink blanket.

I ran over to them and hugged my mom tightly. She was taken by surprise but she hugged me back tightly as well. She kissed my forehead and smiled at me. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, does this mean I get to go home now?" I asked, excited.

Mom smiled and nodded. "Yep, we get to go home with Mackie."

"I love you mom."

"I love you too baby."

"Hi Dad." I hugged his waist, he couldn't really lean over with my sister in his hands.

He ruffled my hair. "Hey bud."

We walked to the car and I sat in the back seat with my sleeping sister. Mom and dad sat in front. Mackenzie was holding onto my finger tightly, a pacifier resting in her little mouth. I guess having a little sister wouldn't be that bad.

Mom and Dad were pretty busy with Mackenzie for the rest of the day. I wasn't complaining though. I was just happy to be home. I finished my home work and Dad let me have cereal for dinner. I played a little bit by myself before I got ready for bed.

I watched Mom feed her with a bottle and change her diaper. It looked easy enough. They had this stupid complicated chart to make sure they fed her and changed her at the right time. I mean she was three days old she should have a little but of freedom.

I said goodnight to them and went to my room. I fell asleep quickly. I woke up to screaming. Mackenzie wasn't just crying, she was screaming. I put the pillow over my head, hoping it would stop, but it didn't. I got up and looked at the time. It was three o clock in the morning. I never was up this late.

I walked over to my parents room and they were both sleeping. I sighed, carefully picking up Mackenzie. I took her out of the room to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle. I shook it up a little bit and tried to give it to her. She wouldn't take it.

I sighed again and put it in the microwave for a couple seconds. It seemed warm enough when I felt it. I gave it to her again and she started eating. She finally calmed down and I took a seat on the couch. "Mackenzie. You need a nickname. What about Kenzie?" She just stared up at me. "Eh, I didn't think so either. What about Mac?" She grabbed a hold of my pinky. "I guess we can work with that, right?"

"Andrew, what the hell are you doing?"

I looked up to see my dad standing there. "Mackenzie woke me up and you guys didn't wake up so I'm feeding her." I said simply.

Dad just looked down at me tiredly. He wiped his hand down his face. "You did that all by yourself, huh?"

I just shrugged. "It's not that hard."

Dad just laughed and took a seat next to me. "Oh, son."

"Is it always going to be like this?" I asked him.

"No, just for the first couple of months. Hopefully she'll get set into a routine that we can work with. I have to go back to work soon but mommy will be home." He explained. "She's going to be pretty tired taking care of Mackenzie all day and night."

I nodded, understanding. "Maybe I can help her."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate it." I looked at the bottle and pulled it out of her mouth. "Let me take her, you can get back to bed." Dad said, taking her for me. "Thank you Bud, I owe you one."

"Hey dad." I said, looking at him as he burped her.

"Yeah, son?"

"What's it like to be a dad?" I asked him.

"It's the best feeling in the world. I've experienced different types of dad things. For instance, with Mackenzie, I helped create a human being. I watched her grow and come into this world. She's a representation of me for the future. Even though she won't have my last name for long, she will always be a Bolton." He said. I nodded solemnly.

"Oh, okay."

"But for you bud, even though I didn't create you or help create you, I watched you grow into a great kid. You will be the one that carries on the Bolton name. I got the chance to teach you everything you will teach to your kids when you have them. I love you just as much as I love your sister. Even if she is biologically mine, I won't treat her any differently than I treat you and I can promise you that." He said. "You're my best bud and I don't ever want to loose that with you."

I smiled at him, feeling a little better. "You won't. You're my best friend too." I curled up next to him. "Can I stay out here a little longer with you and Mackenzie?"

"Sure." He said, rubbing my shoulder. I leaned against him, closing my eyes. He was speaking softly to both me and my sister. I managed to fall asleep against him.

* * *

**Present**

Nights like those happened a lot, unfortunately. She'd wake me up every night but it was only special nights when she didn't wake my parents up and I got to spent some one on one time with her alone. I never resented my sister for being genetically attached to our father. It wasn't her choice or mine or our parents. Dad was right that day. I'd be the one carrying on his name and that made me feel special when she was getting all of the attention from the grandparents.

They said they didn't teat us differently, but they did. Grandma Maria not so much as my dad's parents did. I never resented them for it. I spent my time alone working on basketball or reading, whatever I felt like doing at the time.

As Mackenzie got older, we had a special sibling bond. Though she got annoying at times like all little sisters do, I loved spending time with her without my mom hovering or my grandparents taking her away to go spend time with her. I was the first one to make her smile. I was the first person she walked to. 'Dada' was her first word but I was the one who taught it to her. I would do anything for my baby sister.

* * *

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	4. Met the Girl

**Present**

My dad was my savior. He got me though a lot of things. He came and picked me up at least once a week for the rest of the third grade. Turns out Mackenzie's (and sometimes Mom's) naptime came around the time she was supposed to pick me up from school. Mom vowed she'd never forget again but she did, at least once a week until May rolled around and I got out of school.

He got me through the fifth grade when we first learned about human reproduction. I asked him questions I couldn't ask my teacher (she was 70 years old and she got mad every time we laughed at the word penis… I mean we were ten, come on.). Unfortunately eight days after my eleventh birthday they told me I was getting another sibling. It left me cringing as I thought about what my parents had to do to make my second sibling.

After Mackenzie turned three, we found out it was another girl. Cassandra Lucille Bolton. She was born on January 8th of 2010. Cass, as I dubbed her, was going to be a trouble maker. I could already tell, just from the day she was born. Let's just say mom was in labor for three days before Cass decided to make her appearance. I loved both of my sisters equally but Cass took the role as 'annoying little sister.' Mac was calmer, _nicer_. They both had big personalities that I love so much.

Dad got promoted at work just as a graduated the eighth grade. He still worked a lot but his hours were more flexible. Since I was starting my freshman year of high school, I wanted to play Basketball in the fall and Baseball in the spring. Good grades came natural to me, it was etched in my DNA by my mom.

* * *

**October 15, 2012**

Today was my first basketball tryout. Dad was coming in to watch. I was really nervous. Dad was the MVP and captain for three years when he went here. I got out of school, running over to the locker room. I changed into some shorts and a shirt. Dad assured me I would be fine because he's been working with me all summer.

I was waiting outside of the gym when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Hey Bud."

I looked up at my dad. "Hey."

"You're early." He said, looking inside the open door.

"I'm nervous." I said, fidgeting my hands.

"How many times do I have to tell you you'll be fine? Do you love basketball?" He asked me.

"Yes." I said confidently.

"Do you want to play?" He asked again.

"Yes."

"Think of it like this: Whether you sit on the bench on Varsity or start JV, you will get better every day, every practice, every game. If you work 110 percent every time you step onto that court and be the best player that you can, that's all that matters. Wins are something that comes along with practice and team work. You have to play like you're playing your last game." Dad said, looking at me.

I nodded, taking a breath. "Okay."

"Now go out there and play your heart out kid." He said, patting my back firmly.

"Should I go in there now?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "Yes, go."

I ran in there and walked up to the coach. "Hey Coach Riggs, I'm Andrew Bolton." My eyes flicked over to my dad who was walking up the stands.

"Ah, Andrew Bolton. I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to meet you." He said, giving me a firm hand shake. "I'll be watching you."

I gave him a stiff nod. As if I wasn't nervous enough. I walked over to a couple of other guys who were in the gym already. One of my best friends caught up with me. It was Gary Roberts. After I apologized for punching him out in the second grade, we became civil. We were stuck in Spanish 2 together in seventh grade and I helped him out a little bit. Turns out he was a big basketball fan, just like I was. We just got closer and now I considered him one of my best friends along with Colton Watson. Colton was more into baseball than basketball.

I glanced up at my dad again and he was watching me. I let out a deep breath as coach blew his whistle. We had to line up. We played a shirts vs. skins game against each other after we warmed up and did some drills. It was pretty fun, the guys were all really cool.

After tryouts were over we all headed over to the locker room and got showered. The returning players had a little meeting afterward. I got dressed in regular clothes and grabbed all my stuff. I walked out over to my dad. He patted my back as we walked over the car quietly.

We got in. "How do you think you did?" Dad asked me.

"I think I did well. It was really fun when we got going." I said, looking at him.

He grinned. "Good. I told you that you would be fine."

"Thanks dad." I said, sighing. "I'm starving."

"We'll be home soon." Dad said, driving home.

We got home and I got out of the car. I grabbed my bags and walked inside our house. After Cass was born we moved into a bigger house. My room was on the far side of the house. The girls' bedrooms were near my parents room. I walked up through the living room to my room. I walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

"Andy!" Mac ran over to me. I picked her up.

"Hey Mackie." I gave her a tight hug. "Hey ma." I said, kissing her cheek.

"Hey." Mom said, distractedly, kissing the air in my direction.

"Hey Cass." I said as I set down Mac. I walked over to my youngest sister, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "How's my little monkey?"

"Nany," She said, reaching over, gripping my ear.

"Ow, Cass." I tickled her belly lightly and she giggled, letting go.

Mom walked over, sitting down to feed Cass. "How was try outs?"

"It went good." I said, sitting Mac on my lap.

"He did great baby." Dad said, walking in, planting a kiss on my moms lips. He leaned over and kissed Cass' head. "Hi Cassie girl."

"Daddy!" Mac reached out for him.

"Hi Mackie." He picked her off of my lap, giving her a kiss too. "You gotta finish your homework after dinner." Dad reminded me.

"I will." I said, getting up. "I'll go start it until dinner's done."

"Alright." Mom called after me as I went up the stairs.

* * *

**Present**

I made the basketball team. It was only JV but I was happy to be playing. They pulled me up to Varsity for the last couple of games. It was a good learning experience and Dad was really proud of me. I kept up with my homework easily and when spring came around I made the baseball team too. Sports were my life until the middle of basketball season sophomore year. I was on Varsity but I barely played.

I met the new girl, Audrey Reynolds. I swore I fell in love instantly with her long blonde hair and her pretty green eyes. We talked everyday in our English class we had together. I finally got the courage to ask her to the Winter formal and she said yes. Two weeks after formal, I asked her to be my girlfriend.

* * *

**June 5, 2014**

Yesterday was my last day of sophomore year. I turned 16 a couple days ago and got my learners permit. Dad was teaching me how to drive when he could. They even bought me a used car for my 16th birthday. I had to wait a couple more months to drive it. I wasn't sure what I was going to be up to this summer but I had a girlfriend and I couldn't wait to spend more time with her.

Just thinking about Audrey made me smile like an idiot. I really liked her. She was smart, pretty, and nice. She laughed at all my stupid jokes. She was my first kiss. The first girl that I actually considered choosing over sports. I didn't though. Dad would kill me. He gave me really good advice about dating and taking her nice places.

He told me about his first date with my mom. He took her on a picnic in the park with pizza and chocolate covered strawberries. I wanted to recreate that to have our first real date. I'd been prepping this for weeks because the date was today. I made sure I had everything I needed when the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" I called out to my dad who had the day off today. We were home with the girls while mom was at work. I walked over to the door and opened it. "Hey." I said with a confused smile. It was Audrey.

"Hey Andrew, can I come in for a second?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Sure." I let her in, closing the door behind her. "Our date isn't until later."

"I know, I was just- I need to-" She sighed. "We need to talk."

"Do you want to sit?" I asked, motioning over to the couch.

She shook her head. "I can't, I have to go soon."

"Okay." I said slowly.

"I'm sorry, but I think we should break up." I blinked at her. "I like you Andrew, I do. I think we're more of friends than boyfriend and girlfriend… you know? You're like a brother." She said.

"But-" I cut myself off, closing my mouth. "I really like you Audrey."

She frowned. "I'm so sorry Andrew. Maybe we could be friends still?" She offered. I stood there, dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say or what to do. I was really hurt. "I'm sorry. I guess I should go now."

I just watched her walk out the door, closing it behind her. "Who was that?" Dad asked, walking down the stairs with four year old Cass in his arms.

"Audrey." I said, looking over at him.

"Audrey? I thought you were going out later?" Dad said.

"We aren't going out anymore." I said, letting out a breath.

"How come?" He asked, setting Cassandra down.

"Because she came to break up with me." I said, looking up at him. "I'll be outside." I said, walking past them out to the basketball court in the backyard. I picked up the basketball on the concrete and slammed it down against the ground. I dribbled the ball roughly and took a shot. The ball bounced off the hoop and bounced away.

That happened four more times until I got frustrated enough to kick the ball over the fence. I let out a groan in frustration and walked over to the fence. I peaked over to see our neighbor, Mr. Hensley, cleaning the pool. "Hey Andrew." He said, fishing the ball out of the water.

"Hi Mr. Hensley." I said, looking over at him. "Sorry about the basketball."

"No problem." He said, picking the ball up. "Bad day?" He asked, walking over to me.

"Yeah." He tossed me the ball and I caught it. "Bye Mr. Hensley."

"Bye Andrew." He called after me. I tossed the wet ball over by the hoop and walked inside.

I went up to my room and laid on my bed. "Hey bud." I just sighed. "Mackie just left for Christina's house and Cassie just went down for a nap." He took a seat next to me.

"Love sucks." I said, sadly.

"I know it does." He said looking over at me. "But this was your first girlfriend, you'll have many more girlfriends in your lifetime, son. You're still young."

"I know, but it still sucks."

"I remember the first time I was heart broken. My freshman year of high school. I was going out with a senior girl. She was really pretty but she was just messing with me. I was very gullible when I was your age. I had braces for the gap between my front teeth. I didn't have bad acne but my hair was long. I kind of looked like a girl." Dad said, making me laugh a little bit. "But I grew out of my awkward looks. I got my braces off and worked out all summer. I forgot about that girl and moved on."

I sighed to myself. "Can I sulk for a day or two?"

"No, son. When your mom gets home, I'm going to take you to the gym." He said. "You are going to work your ass off this summer."

I looked at him, horrified. "Why?"

"Because you see those varsity boys. You need to bulk up son, not just for basketball, for baseball too. I'm counting on you to lead the team in homeruns this year." Dad said, looking over at me.

"No pressure or anything." I said, sarcastically.

My dad chuckled. "You'll be fine son. I know you can do it."

* * *

**Present day**

I ended up working out all summer. My abs, arms, and legs were defined. I was much stronger and more athletic. It showed when I dominated in both basketball and baseball. I forgot all about Audrey and how she hurt me. The pain went away and I was more focused on school.

Dad was right, of course. I had many other girlfriends. I broke up with most of them for some reason or another. I guess that's what high school was about. Not exactly finding yourself but getting you on the path to doing that. Realizing the different types of people in the world and learning how to adapt to them all.

The longest girlfriend I had was senior year. Her name was Erica Olivera. Thinking back she was the complete opposite of Audrey. She was tanned, shorter, short brown hair and chocolately eyes that weirdly reminded me of my mom. She was a great girl but we were heading off to college and we knew we wouldn't make it though. She was going to an Ivy league and I wasn't sure exactly where I was going yet.

I had multiple scholarship offers just for being the valedictorian. I had scholarship offers for basketball and baseball and all three. I wasn't sure if I wanted to stick to one sport of play both. I had a lot of decisions to make in a little amount of time. Dad sat me down though. We had a talk, not about baseball, not about basketball but what I wanted to do after I graduated.

It really put things in perspective for me. I knew I had two years to change my mind. Did I want to be an engineer like my parents were? Did I want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a Politian, a professional athlete? I had no idea. I didn't want to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a Politian or a professional athlete. I established computer engineering as my major.

I just needed to pick a school. My top two choices were MIT and Berkeley. I decided on Berkeley because it was closer to home. Once I got to California I was a little homesick. I quickly made friends and felt a little better. It was interesting living in a dorm; thankfully my roommate Alan and I got along well.

* * *

**October 5, 2016**

Alan's alarm clock was going off and I was about to throw my pillow at it, it was so annoying. I got up and looked at the time. Shit, I was late for class. I hopped up and got changed quickly. I looked around my dorm for my books, finding the ones that I need. I walked over to Alan who was sleeping. I smacked his arm.

"Wake up, Alan, you're going to be late." I said, pulling my shoes on.

"Fuck off, Bolton." He grumbled.

I laughed, shaking my head. His loss. I picked up my backpack and walked out the door. I went down to the cafeteria and got a quick breakfast. I was already late to my first lecture so I was running uphill across campus to make sure I didn't miss anymore than I had to. I looked up at the sky because I swore I felt a rain drop.

I heard a soft grunt when I ran into somebody in front of me. "Oh shit." I said, trying to catch whoever I had ran into. The girl in front of me had dropped her biology book. She kept one hand on the ground because I was holding the other up. "I'm so sorry."

She laughed quietly. "I'm so clumsy, I'm sorry." I helped her up. "God I'm so late." She said, reaching down to get her book. A couple papers flew out of the book.

I ran after them, stopping them before they got to far. I looked at the name on the paper, Maya. I met up with Maya and handed her back her papers. "Here you go Maya." She just looked at me confused. "Your name was on the paper." I said awkwardly.

Maya laughed again. "Oh, I was like how do you know my name? I just bumped into you." She had a pretty smile.

"I'm Andrew, by the way." I said, holding out the last paper.

"Thank you for getting my papers, Andrew." She said. "I'm Maya, but you already knew that, I guess."

I smiled at her. "What's your major?"

"I'm undecided." She said with a soft sigh. "I was thinking about pre-med but do I really want to go to school for ten years. Then I was thinking about Marketing and accounting because I'm pretty good at math."

I chuckled. "I know the feeling. That's how I was when I was picking colleges. I'm an engineering major. I'm probably going to shift into more IT engineering though, like computers and stuff."

She tilted her head. "What made you decide that?"

"I don't think I'd make a good doctor, or lawyer, or teacher, or anything else." I said, laughing. "My parents are engineers and I like computers."

"My mom is a self proclaimed artist, she's a little crazy but I love her. My dad builds cars. It's like night and day. I didn't really have something to look up to when I declared undecided." I watched her talk, then push her hair back. "I'll figure it out. I talked to my 'guidance counselor' like six times since I got here. Everybody in her office knows me. You know what sucks? She has been no help. She gives me pamphlets. PAMPHLETS. What the hell am I supposed to do with a folded up piece of paper?"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Man, do you have those pamphlets?"

"I do actually." She said, walking over to a near by table. We took a seat at the table and she dug through her backpack. She pulled out a bunch of pamphlets.

"You weren't kidding were you?" I asked, taking the pamphlets from her. "Molecular and cell biology?" I asked, flipping through the papers.

"I didn't pick all of them." She defended.

"Okay, lets narrow it down. How do you feel about biology?" I asked her.

"I hate biology." She said with a small laugh.

"Okay, no biology." I took all of them out. "Mass communications?"

"it has potential." She said with a shrug. "Keep creative writing too, ooh and Economics."

I chuckled. She was picking some random ones. "Alright… Liberal Arts?"

"Eh, keep it in there." She said, peaking over to get a look too. "Ooh, media studies! I can be a weather girl. This is Maya Lowry with the channel five news. There's a big cold front coming down through the Contra Costa county."

"Wouldn't that be meteorology?" I asked, chuckling at her weathergirl impression.

"Fuck." She said breathlessly. "I don't know. Why is real life so hard?" She asked pouting, she put her head down on the table.

"I think you'd be a great weathergirl." I said, encouragingly. "Psychology?" She sighed in response. "Sociology."

"Yeah." She said her voice muffled.

"Theatre, dance, and performing arts?" I asked her.

"I guess that could be useful." She said sitting back up. Her cheeks were a little rosy.

"And last but not least; Woman's studies."

"Ew, no. I hate women." She said.

I chuckled. "You are a woman."

"I know, how pathetic am I?" I felt my phone vibrating. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I stared at it for a minute. "You can take that, I'll _recycle _these."

I watched her get up and I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Andy, I'm sick."

I frowned. "The birthday girl can't be sick."

"Daddy said I might miss my party. Are you sure you can't come?" Mac said, adding a wet cough.

I frowned even more. "I'm sorry Big Mac. I'll try to make it, okay? You just need to focus on getting better. Did dad take you to the doctors?"

"Yes, they said I just have a cold, but I feel like poop." She said, coughing again.

"Are you with Dad?" I asked her.

"Yeah," She said. "Do you want to talk to him?"

"Yes, please, quickly." I said. I watched Maya argue with somebody as she tried to put the papers in the recycling bin.

"Andrew?"

"Dad, I think I met the girl of my dreams. She's amazing dad." I said, with a sigh.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" He asked me.

"Yes, but I'm not." Maya threw her hands up in frustration and handed the pamphlets to the person and stalked back over to me.

"You know you're supposed to be in class. I really want to hear about this girl now, but Cassie wants to talk to you." Dad said.

"Love you dad." I said before he handed the phone over to Cass.

"HI ANDY." She screamed on the phone.

I made a face and moved the phone away from my ear. "Hi Cass. Why aren't you at school? You're going to get sick."

"Daddy said is not outrageous."

"Do you mean contagious?"

"Yeah. What are you doing?" She asked me.

"I'm at school Cass, I have to go."

"Why?"

"Because I have to go to class."

"But why?"

"Cassandra."

"Fine. Love you Andrew."

"I love you too. Bye." I said hanging up the phone. I let out a deep breath.

"Girlfriend?" She asked, putting the pamphlets back in her bag.

I shook my head. "No girlfriend. That was my sister. I have two. The older one is going to be ten in a couple days, but she's sick. That was the younger one, she's seven. She's very obnoxious." I flipped through my phone and showed her a picture of the three of us.

"The older one looks more like you. There eyes are pretty." She noted, taking a closer look.

"Our dad is their biological dad." I explained. "They look more like him than me and my mom."

"Oh." She said nodding. "I'm an only child, but we do have four cats. They're kind of like siblings." She said.

I chuckled. "That's pretty cool." I said, watching her play on my phone.

"Is this your dad?" She asked, showing me a picture of my dad. I nodded. "I'm sorry but he is hot."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you into older men?"

She just laughed. "I dated a 24 year old once. All he wanted was sex. I kind of lead him on so he could put in my sound system for free. He worked at Best Buy."

"So you're one of those girls?" I asked her. "You like to play with people?"

She looked over at me and shook her head. "Nah, I mean, he knew I wasn't giving it up. But man did he try. I haven't found someone worth settling down for."

I nodded, understanding. "Me and my ex broke up for college. She's in New York somewhere. We weren't that serious."

"I haven't been in a relationship in… two years." She said with a slight smile. "I'm too weird for people."

"You think you're weird?" I asked her, she nodded. "Somebody just argued with you about recycling a piece of paper. You're not that weird."

She smiled at me. "That's because I haven't unleashed the full weird on you yet."

"Go ahead, lay it on me." I said, spreading my arms out. She rolled her eyes, turning back to my phone in her hands. I looked down in my backpack and I heard her take a picture. "Are you taking pictures of me?"

"Nope."

I looked over at her. "What time is it anyway?"

"8:50." She said, looking over at me. "My class is almost over."

I laughed. "Mine is too."

"I think this was much better than class."

I nodded in agreement. "So do I." She slid over my phone and I picked it up. I turned on the lock screen on my phone and it was a funny picture of Maya's face up close. I burst out laughing. "That is terrifying."

"That better still be your screen when I run into you again." She said seriously.

I laughed. "Alright, I guess I'll keep it."

* * *

**I might finish this today... one more chapter left! Don't forget to review!**


	5. Half the dad

"_I met the girl that's now my wife about three years ago_  
_We had the perfect marriage but we wanted somethin' more_  
_Now here I stand surrounded by our family and friends_  
_Crowded 'round the nursery window as they bring the baby in _

_And now all of a sudden_  
_It seemed so strange to me_  
_How we've gone from something's missing_  
_To a family_  
_Lookin' through the glass I think about the man_  
_That's standin' next to me_  
_And I hope I'm at least half the dad_  
_That he didn't have to be _

_Lookin' back all I can say_  
_About all the things he did for me_  
_Is I hope I'm at least half the dad_  
_That he didn't have to be"_

**"He didn't have to be"- Brad Paisley**

* * *

**Present**

Maya Lowry… She is something else. We happened to run into each other quite often. We didn't skip class again but we did hang out around campus and at the library and stuff. I surprised Mac for her birthday and went out to Albuquerque. She was still sick but very excited to see me.

Dad and I had a long talk about college. He wanted me to stay focused and basketball was coming up. I had a full scholarship regardless of whether I played basketball or not so I was really debating of if I wanted to play or focusing on my studies.

I decided to play. I would regret it if I didn't. Since basketball was like a full time job it made me manage my time well. Basketball was fun, I mostly rode the bench but I didn't mind. It was like a whole different experience playing in college than in basketball. After every home game me, Alan, Maya, and her roommate Haley would go hang out together.

* * *

**February 28, 2018**

Today was our last home game. We had lost, not making it into the playoffs. I wasn't completely heartbroken but I wouldn't have mind traveling around the country to play some basketball. I just finished showering, throwing my uniform in the hamper. I got dressed quickly, closing my locker. I combed my hair back and checked my breath before I walked out of the locker room.

"Look at you all fancy." Maya said as I walked over to her. "We got ditched." She said, sighing.

"Where did they go?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "Al said he had to go study or whatever. Haley was being bipolar so she stomped off when Alan left."

"That sucks for you." I said, teasing her. "Did you dye your hair?" I asked her. Her hair was dark brown, it was now a lighter brown with some red in it.

Maya smiled brightly. "Today! Mom wired me some money. Last time we skyped she said my hair was boring so I changed it up."

I chuckled. "I cannot wait to meet your mom. She sounds like the polar opposite of my mom."

"She probably is." Maya said. "Do you want to go get some food or something? Because I'm starving."

"Actually I had something in mind we could do." I said, giving her a soft smile. "It's in my dorm building though."

"As long as there's food then I'm in." She said.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and we walked slowly to my dorm building. I had planned this day, earlier this week. I made Alan and Haley my alibis. Since I first met Maya, I knew she was something special. It's been almost five months since we've became friends. I wanted desperately to tell her how I feel. The time didn't feel right until this week.

"You know what I just thought of?" Maya said after a minute of silence.

"What?"

"You're way too short to be a basketball player." She said, laughing.

"I'm five nine!" I defended myself. I was on the shorter side but I blame genetics for that.

"So most basketball players are at least six foot tall." She pointed out.

I shrugged. "So, I can jump pretty high."

She giggled. "Okay, you're right. You're right. I guess you can just crawl in between their legs."

I scoffed at her and nudged her with my elbow. She laughed even more, holding onto my elbow. I walked into the building and up the stairs. "We are going to take the stairs. It's worth it, I promise."

"I hate stairs." She muttered as we got to the second floor. I took her hand leading her up past the third to finally the roof. "Are we even supposed to be up here, Andrew?" She asked wearily of the door we stood in front of.

"Well be fine Maya." I assured her. "Come on." I gave her a grin and pushed the door open, leading her out to the rooftop.

There wasn't much up there, a couple lawn chairs put up by some guys when they wanted to drink some beer after a long day of classes. The walls were high enough to where we had to climb them to be at the ledge. Alan helped me out, setting up a picnic blanket for me with a basket of things and a warm pizza setting on top of it.

"What's all this?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Dinner." I released her hand and took a seat on the blanket. "unless you just want to go back to the dorm and I can eat this pizza by myself." I said opening the box.

"Is that…" She trailed off inhaling. I heard her stomach grumble. "Let me at it." She took a seat next to me and pulled a piece of pizza from the box. "This is like heaven in my mouth. This is better than sex."

I chuckled awkwardly, blushing slightly at the word sex coming from her mouth. I just ate my pizza, deciding not to comment. "I think we have other stuff in the basket too." I said, opening it with my free hand. "Strawberries, soda or water?"

"Soda." She said. I handed it to her. I pulled out a water for myself. "My question is, how did you set this all up if you didn't know Alan and Haley were going to ditch us?"

I shrugged, smiling mysteriously. "I might of planned it or we might have ruined somebody else's date."

Maya rolled her eyes at me, taking another bite of her pizza. We ate quietly for a couple of moments, finishing off more than half of the pizza between the both of us. I wiped my hands on my napkin, stealing a quick drink of water. "It's killing me to try these strawberries." She said, opening up the bag. She gasped. "You got assorted? I love dark chocolate." She picked one from out of the bag.

I grinned at her, watching her eat the strawberry. "Are they good?"

"They're amazing." She said, taking another careful bite. She popped the piece of chocolate into her mouth that fell off the strawberry. I took a deep breath, trying to figure how to tell her how I feel. Her facial expression changed. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I looked over at her. "What? Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind." I said.

"You can talk to me, I'm a mediocre listener." She said with a slight laugh.

I chuckled and smiled at her. "You're a great listener. It's just that I want to say something but I don't know how to say it."

She looked over at me and sighed. "I know how you feel."

I played with my fingers. "I guess it's just that I want to tell you that I like you as more than just a friend. We've gotten pretty close but I want to know everything about you."

She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head against them. "Oh Andrew. I wish I had no shame in telling you everything about me. There are things that I've done that I'm not necessarily proud of and I don't want you to think differently of me." She said, pushing her hair to one side. "I feel like you're so put together and good and saintly even. I just feel like I'd be a disappointment."

I gave her a small smile. "I'm not Jesus or anything."

"I know." She said with a sigh.

"It's okay if you don't like me too. I mean I get it. I'm always the good guy… the one you think of as a brother. I live in the friend zone." I said with a bitter chuckle. "I get it, I do." I picked up another piece of pizza taking another bit agitatedly.

"Andrew-" She said softly. I ended up cutting her off.

"Actually no I don't get it. I'm not that ugly. I'm nice. I consider myself a gentleman. I'm smart. I was valedictorian. I had a 4.0 GPA for the past four years. I've never gotten a below a B in my life." I took a breath. "Am I intimidating? I can't be I'm too damn nice. I guess I should become more Asshole-ish. I'm a pretty good kisser." I suddenly became pale. I might know the reason why.

"Andrew-" She looked at me closer. "Are you okay?"

"It's because I'm a virgin isn't it? I'm not as… experienced as other people. I made a commitment to God and now nobody want's to date me because I'm a virgin. I'm going to be alone forever." I said, putting the pizza I was holding in the box. I picked up a napkin, wiping my hands. "Will you excuse me?"

I got up and walked to the other side of the roof. I pulled out my phone and called the only person who I thought could help me. "Hello?" My dad answered groggily.

"I just fucked up." I said, letting out a breath.

"You didn't get anybody pregnant, did you?" He asked, concerned.

"No Dad. I set this date up and took Maya out and we had 'the picnic.' I just told her how I felt and then I went on to _rant _about how I'm a _virgin. _Dad, I'm a fucking idiot."

"I can't argue with that, son." He chuckled.

"Dad, this is not funny." I put my hand on my forehead. "You're never going to have grandchildren if I can't get a girlfriend."

"You do have sisters." He reminded me.

I groaned. "Dad, that's not the point!"

"Wait, did you leave her alone to call me?"

"Yes, Dad! I have to t-"

"Hi, Mr. Bolton. This is Maya. Troy's going to have to call you back." Maya said after taking my phone from me. "Nice to meet you too, mhm, goodbye." She hung up the phone.

"What the hell?" I asked her.

"I think you are dorky in the cutest way. You're too nice but that's just your personality. I still think you're too good for me but I like you too." She said, shrugging her shoulder. "If you just shut up for a second than I can do this." She put her hands on either sides of my cheeks and kissed my lips gently.

Dear god, I've just been sent to heaven. I hesitantly put my hands on her hips, holding her in place. She pulled her lips away from mine and I stood there with my eyes closed. "Wow."

She giggled. "So dorky."

A smile crossed my lips. "I'm the biggest dork, but I don't care."

She pulled my phone out of her pocket. She wrapped her arm around my neck, giving me another kiss whilst taking a picture. I closed my eyes after she pulled away. I placed my nose on her cheek giving her a light kiss. "I guess we even out because I'm weird and you're dorky."

"That sounds about right." I said, pulling away from her.

"I like the fact that you are my boyfriend." She said, turning to look at me. She was playing with something on my phone. She placed it back in my pocket, sticking her hands in them both. "You're so different from everybody else and I really like that about you."

"Don't get me started on what I like about you because I think we'll be here all night." I leaned down to kiss her lips gently. I pulled away and sighed. "I have to ask you something, though."

"What?" She asked me, tilting her head.

"I know you may not be a Christian or believe in god but I do. I'm not going to push my religion on you but I don't want to have sex until I get married." I said. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"It's not like I have to have sex, Andrew. I get that's what you believe and I respect that." She said, running her fingers through my pushed back hair. "I want this, us. You have nothing to be insecure about."

She gave me a smile and I let out a breath. "You just get more amazing, don't you?"

Maya laughed. "Pretty much. Can we get back to those strawberries?" She asked, planting a quick kiss on my lips.

"Of course." I took her hand and we walked back to the blanket. She sat in between my legs, leaning against me. I pulled her out another chocolate covered strawberry. I reached in front to feed it to her. She opened her mouth but I pulled it away quickly, taking a bite myself. She giggled, grabbing my wrist, feeding the rest to herself.

* * *

**Present.**

After two years of college she was the same fun-loving, free-spirit, weird woman that I fell in love with. We complemented each other in everyway. My parents loved her. When I met her parents her mom was just as wonderful as she made her out to be. Her dad was tough but he approved of me, even welcomed me into the family.

It was time. It was the summer before our senior year of college and I had just turned 21 and she 22. I don't think I could imagine myself with any other woman but her. I loved her so much; I have never felt this way before. I made up my mind, all I needed was a ring.

* * *

**July 4, 2019**

I put the first burger on the grill for our fourth of July Barbeque. I was on grill duty and dad was bringing me stuff from the kitchen. He set down some vegetables for me to grill while I put down the rest of the patties. I looked over at Dad and gave him a happy sigh.

"What's that look for?" He asked me.

"I'm going to do it." I said, grinning. "I'm going to ask her."

He looked at me skeptically. "to marry you?"

I nodded. "Yep. I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"Do you have a ring?"

"Not yet." I said, closing down the cover.

"Are you completely sure about this?" He asked me.

I smiled at him. "I think that God made me run into her that day. Some kind of Divine intervention. I've felt like this before. She's amazing and I don't want to be with anybody else, ever."

"What do you love about her son?" He asked me.

"I love her free-spirit. I love the way she can just talk about anything. Everything she explains just makes sense to me and I love that. I love the way she always has something positive to say about everything. I love spending time with her. She is the most beautiful person I've ever met and I won't want to let her slip through my fingers dad. I love her." I admitted to him.

He grinned back at me. "I know the feeling son. That's how I felt when I met your mom. She was and still is the light of my life. I am so happy for you, son."

"Thanks dad." I said, giving him a tight hug.

"I think I have something for you, but I'll give it to you later." I nodded and he walked away. I flipped the burgers before I put more things on the grill.

I cooked everything that needed to be grilled. We took a seat outside and ate together as a family. Cass was nine and Mackenzie was about to turn 12. I couldn't believe they were growing up so fast. I loved hearing stories about their school and the sports they played. It made me sad that I was missing everything but I only had one more year to go.

After I got ready for bed, my dad came into my room and sat down next to me. "Hey." I said, running my fingers through my hair.

"So I was thinking of giving this to your mom when I proposed to her. I'm glad I didn't because I want you to give it to Maya." Dad said, handing me over a ring box. "It was my dad's mom's. Grandma was an amazing woman, she passed pretty young but I'll never forget her. Dad gave it to me and I'm giving it to you."

I opened the ring box and it was a beautiful vintage one of a kind ring with a pretty ivory colored diamond in the middle. It was nothing I've ever seen before. It was perfect. "Wow, Dad…"

"Your mom is pretty traditional. I didn't think it would fit her very well. But Maya kind of reminds me of grandma. I want her to have it." He said, patting my back.

"Thank you." I said, looking at the ring closer. "It's amazing."

Dad grinned. "Yeah, it is. I'm counting on her saying yes."

I chuckled. "Me too."

"Don't worry, she will." Dad said, winking at me.

* * *

**Present**

I asked her to marry me the weekend of her father's 50th birthday. I asked him permission first and I was so nervous. He was more than happy that I was going to ask Maya to marry me. Her family was so different than mine. Her mom was laid back, her dad was always cracking jokes. My family was more strict about some things.

I as over the moon when she accepted the proposal. I couldn't wait to see her walk down the aisle. I couldn't wait to commit myself to her for life. I couldn't wait to be a husband and a father in a couple of years. I loved her so much.

We got married a year after we graduated college. We didn't get married in a church but we got married in Iowa. Maya was really connected to the house she grew up in. We ended up having a small ceremony in the backyard. We did have a man of god do the ceremony. We compromised on a lot.

A huge compromise was where we were going to live. Since we were out of college, married, and both had saved up some money, we needed to find a place to stay. We agreed on moving back to Albuquerque, my home town. There were a lot of jobs for me there and Maya loved the area my parents lived. We got a house two blocks away.

I loved being married, especially to the love of my life. Everyday was a wonderful day because I had her. I thought of how lucky I was to have her in my arms. I thank god every night for making her for me. We are very happy together. When we got to talking about our future and our lives, we agreed that there was something missing.

* * *

**October 28, 2022**

Mackenzie just started high school. She was 15 and today was her first scrimmage for the East High girls basketball team. Maya and I went down to support her. She played great. She was a natural born athlete, it was in her blood. We all watched as she dominated the court. Cassie was bored, she was more like mom. She'd show up in support but she couldn't tell you a thing about what was going on.

"Great job, Big Mac." I said, giving her a hug when she ran over to us.

"Thanks Andy." She gave Maya a sweaty hug. "Are you guys coming over for dinner?"

"Yeah, but we have to stop at home first. I have to get out of these work clothes." Maya said, playing with her long hair.

"Okay! I'll be right out!" She said, running over to the locker rooms. She was going to be a starter and she was going to be on varsity. She was that good, I was proud.

"Hey Dad, we'll meet you at the house." I said, giving him a quick hug.

"Alright. Bye Maya." He said, giving her a hug after.

"Bye mom." I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and ruffled Cassie's hair. She smacked my arm away. "Bye Booger."

"Bye." She said grumpily.

I took my wife's hand and we drove to our home. I got changed, waiting for Maya to come out of the bathroom. "Andrew, babe." She said, walking out in one of my favorite shirts on her. "I have some news."

"Okay." I said, looking at her confused. She lifted up her shirt. I raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't get it."

"Hold on." She said walking back into the bathroom. She walked back out, lifting up her shirt. There was an ultrasound picture taped to her stomach. She walked closer to me. "Baby Bolton's a-cookin'" She said.

"No." I said in disbelief, a smile plastered on my face. I took the picture off her stomach carefully. "This is ours?"

She nodded. "I was going in for a pap smear and I came out six weeks pregnant."

"Wow." I said, looking at her belly than looking at the picture. "We're going to be parents!"

Maya nodded, smiling. I stood up and kissed her lips firmly. "What do you think?" She asked, biting her lip.

"I think we're going to be great parents."

"I want to tell your family tonight." She said, looking up at me.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to have morning sickness and stuff?" I asked her.

"The doctor said it varies. I've been feeling a little under the weather but I probably just jinxed that." She wrapped her arms around me tightly.

I smiled as I kissed her lips slowly. "I love you. I can't wait to see our baby."

Maya grinned. "Let's go tell everybody."

"Okay." I said, pulling her to the door.

* * *

**June 18, 2023- Present day.**

"Push, push, push. You're almost there." I encouraged my wife. She bore down. Our baby was crowning, we were minutes away from meeting our child. Maya was squeezing my hand tightly. I was loosing the feeling in my fingers.

"Can you see it?" She asked, panting. I dabbed the sweat off her forehead.

"Yes, baby. You're doing great, you're almost there." I encouraged.

"A couple more pushes Mrs. Bolton and you will meet your baby." The doctor said, glancing up at her. "Okay, big push."

After a few more pushes, a small cry sounded in the room. I was overwhelmed with joy. I cut the cord and was handed my son. I leaned over, showing him to Maya. "Look at our son, babe."

She smiled tiredly at the both of us. "He looks just like you." She touched our tiny baby's hand. "He's perfect."

"I love you so much." I told her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

A nurse was waiting by to take him for testing. I gave him a gentle kiss and handed him over. I took a seat next to her in the bed. I stroked her head slowly as she closed her eyes. "I can't wait to hold him." She said quietly, smiling.

"I can't wait to take him home." I told her.

"You can go tell everybody. I think I'm going to go to sleep." Maya leaned up giving me another kiss. "I love you Andrew."

"I love you too baby." I gave her a smile and tucked her into bed. I walked out the door, closing it behind me. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I was a proud father. I walked out to the waiting room. Everybody looked at me anxiously. "It's a boy. Eight pounds, 21 inches."

Dad was the first to get up and give me a big hug. "Congratulations son."

Then everybody else joined in on the hug. I thanked them for being there in support. Mom was in tears, excited to see her first grandchild. I let them in, we walked to the nursery window. We saw all the babies sleeping peacefully in their bassinets.

"He's not here yet." I said to my dad standing next to me. "You know, you were right dad."

"About what?" He asked, placing a hand on my back.

"Everything. When I held my son in my arms, it was like I understood everything you said about fatherhood. I love him so much."

He gave me a soft smile. "I know you do son, you'll be a great-" He cut himself off. A nurse just walked in with my son, showing us in the window. He let out a breath. "Look at him."

I smiled proudly. "I know."

"Did you ever decide on a name?" He asked me.

"Beau Troy-Randall Bolton." I said, pressing my hand up against the glass. "We wanted to include both of you." Randall was Maya's fathers name.

"Beau Bolton." He repeated. "He's beautiful, son."

"Thanks Dad." I said quietly. "For everything." He looked over at me confused. "Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for being my father, even when you didn't have to be. That everything a real man should be and I looked up to your from the moment we met. I knew you were different. I prayed everyday that my mom found someone that made her happy, she brought us you. You don't understand how thankful I am for you dad." I said, getting choked up.

He grinned back at me with tears in his eyes. "I wouldn't trade you or your mom for the world son."

I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. I pulled away from him, looking again at my sleeping son. "I hope I'm at least half the dad you were."

Dad put his hand on my shoulder. "You will be, you will be much better." He assured. "Now let's get a hold of that little boy."

* * *

**The end! I hope y'all enjoyed it! A new story i just finished is coming out next weekend. I hope you like it. I hope you guys are reading this and surrogate. I love you guys! Don't forget to review!**


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